Twin Peaks R2

[higenbs1]

I have already asked this but to no avail. Has anyone bought the Region 2 Twin Peaks box set. If so, is the pilot episode the original one broadcast, or is it the one with the tacked on ending. Also is there a DTS track?

 

[kevb]

I still haven't had it arrive yet when it does I'll ley you know.

 

[bobbles]

yep

twin peaks R2

does contain the pilot

Now i can be confused all over again

 

[PoochJD]

Hi,

Just to confirm, the R2 edition of "Twin Peaks" Season 1 contains the original UK broadcast edition of the Pilot episode, and NOT the version with the "tacked on" ending.

Pooch

 

[higenbs1]

Cheers for your help. Not that I wouldn't have purchased it anyway. How about DTS. Or is this exclusively on the R1 edition. If so, I face another dilemma:

Non-Anamorphic NTSC and DTS
or
Non-Anamorphic PAL and DD5.1

 

[PoochJD]

Hi Again,

DTS is on the Region 2 version, so you may as well go for the Region 2 release, purely because of the minor superiority of a PAL picture. However, as the show was made in the US, then the PAL release will have the whole 4:3 pulldown thing affecting it.

Ultimately, unless you have a Region 2 only machine, or a non-NTSC compatible TV, then go for the Region 1 release, but make certain it has the original Pilot Version, and not the one with the "tacked-on" ending.

Pooch

 

[Squirrel God]

I shall be going for the UK R2 (or perhaps R4) eventually. Any PAL speedup will be minor compared to an awful non-anamorphic NTSC image with all its hideous scan lines. I bought the original pilot from Hong Kong and it's in NTSC and looks pretty mank so can't wait for a PAL version. I'm just waiting to see what happens with the French R2 release as they always seem to get a better Lynch release (they recently got a 2-disk Mulholland Drive SE ). Also want to see what they do with the second season and if they launch a joint "all episodes" box set.

 

[CarlB]

Twin Peaks is shot 4:3 full frame so it is not an anamorphic transfer, and I therefore doubt you'll notice much difference between the R1 and R2 transfers...

 

[Squirrel God]

Originally posted by CarlB
Twin Peaks is shot 4:3 full frame so it is not an anamorphic transfer, and I therefore doubt you'll notice much difference between the R1 and R2 transfers...

Yes they are both non-anamorphic, that's right.

But non-anamorphic NTSC (whether 4:3 or w/s) looks awful compared to non-anamorphic PAL. There's little difference when displayed as prog. scan, but on a CRT, non-anamorphic NTSC looks pants and the scan lines are very visible.

 

[CarlB]

Afraid I'm going to have to disagree with you there, Squirrel.

Admittedly widescreen non-anamorphic transfers look awful when zoomed to fill a widescreen display, but the difference between a PAL/NTSC 4:3 image is very subtle to me. As both are using the full vertical resolution of the display there is only the extra lines of PAL over NTSC, which really don't make an awful lot of difference for me. And that was when I was using a 40" RPTV in the days before pro-scan and my plasma - so you would expect me to notice interlace lines on a set that size...

In particular, take a look at The Abyss SE or Criterion Collection Armageddon on R1 non-anamorphic - on a 4:3 display they are really quite exceptional (especially for 2.35:1 widescreen, so only use about 300lines resolution)!

 

[kevb]

My R2 copy turned up today. Just had the Pilot and episode one in the Player and doesn't look to bad considering it's age and the fact it was made for TV. There is a little bit of grain in the image but plenty of detail. Episode one looks a little bit better still. I've only watched about a few mins of each one so far.

The pilot is the original european version which was never shown in the US which is good. They had the tacked on ending.

There is no DTS track I can see on any of the sound set-up menus. Instead there seems to be most major European lanuages instead.

 

[Squirrel God]

Originally posted by CarlB
Admittedly widescreen non-anamorphic transfers look awful when zoomed to fill a widescreen display, but the difference between a PAL/NTSC 4:3 image is very subtle to me. As both are using the full vertical resolution of the display there is only the extra lines of PAL over NTSC, which really don't make an awful lot of difference for me. And that was when I was using a 40" RPTV in the days before pro-scan and my plasma - so you would expect me to notice interlace lines on a set that size...

You can't see it because you were using an RPTV and now you're using a plasma.

Like I said, I was talking about CRTs (4:3 or widescreen, it doesn't matter). Of course, if you say you can't see them on a CRT either then who am I to argue with you! If you can't see them, then you can't. But I can definitely see them and they irritate me (and you can't argue with the fact that I can see them either ), and I am definitely not alone in being able to see them. I agree that NTSC looks even worse when zoomed up however.

 

[kevb]

I've checked the disks out a bit more. The Pilot is only in Dolby Surround but hey it is the original so in my book that makes it ok. If you have prologic 2 on your amp just use that.

You can watch the episodes with the intoductions by the log lady by going into the specail features. The quality of these is not that great and again the audio is only stereo but the R1 doesn't have them and we didn't get to see them when the show was originaly broadcast so again it's nice to have.

All episodes are 5.1 by default and the video quality is very good as i said before considering the age of the programe.

 

[CarlB]

Squirrel,

I certainly can't argue about what you can or can't see as you say, but I don't understand why an RPTV isn't valid in this discussion. It only displayed an interlaced picture, the same as a CRT. I understand why plasma is different but I thought RPTV was pretty much the same resolution as CRT.

I only have a 28" Sony Wega CRT in the house and unless I zoom a non-anamorphic image I can't see any difference between NTSC and PAL. I suspect that the screen size is not enough to reflect the small number of lines advantage of PAL. Additionally, as both 4:3 versions use the full vertical resolution it is the same as saying that all PAL anamorphic releases are better than NTSC anamorphic releases, as they both use exactly the same number of vertical lines as their 4:3 non-anamorphic counterparts.

There's not really an argument here though as there are discs to suit us all. I actually *did* buy the R2 Twin Peaks in this case as I seem to remember the NTSC box set did not include the pilot. The R2 was also pretty inexpensive. I really can't say I think the picture is *better* than any of my 4:3 NTSC discs though, but as I said if I exclude my plasma I only have a 28" TV for comparison which is probably not enough...

 

[Squirrel God]

Carl,

I have a 28" WEGA as well. 28" is enough to see them. I can see them on 24" sets as well. RPTV is a different technology and therefore doesn't show up the scanlines in the same way as a CRT due to the projection involved compared to the excitation of phosphors on a tube coating.

PAL and NTSC have a different resolution and yes, this small difference is sufficient to warrant PAL superiority. Yes, anamorphic PAL is indeed also superior to anamorphic NTSC in this respect. The scanlines on anamorphic NTSC are visible too, although less so. However, it is not sufficient to restrict my purchase of anamorphic NTSC DVDs as I do not find it irritating as I really have to stare for the scanlines here. Also, note that because of the difference in resolution, when you watch an NTSC image on a "PAL TV" it has to be stretched a little in order to fill the same area of screen. If you want to check this, compare the on-screen volume display in NTSC and PAL - you'll see it's stretched in NTSC.

In the overall scheme of things, many other things determine whether PAL or NTSC deliver the best image finally. But here we are merely referring to the impact of resolution.

You should be chuffed that you can't see the scan lines because it means they are not irritating you!! If you want to keep staring in an effort to see them, then bright images (pure white) will show them up more.

Anyway, I think we should stop discussing this now on this thread because we are taking the thread off-topic. I am happy to explain further in private however, should you want further clarification.

 

[Squirrel God]

Kev,

What's the packaging like?


SPOILER











BTW, did you know that when I first watched Twin Peaks, Bob gave me nightmares for bloody weeks. I had to sleep with the light on It was that scene where Laura seems him crouching behind the dresser in her bedroom. That was one of the creepiest things I've ever seen - really spooky.













END OF SPOILER

 

[kevb]

It's not bad. Transparent plastic outer cover with Laura's prom photo on the front. Inside it's a fold out digi pack with Laura's face when shes uncovered from the wraped plastic bags by the river on the front cover along with the title graphics. Nice touch Inside that there are photo's of locations from twin peaks behind the clear disk holders and a small info insert. Not too shabby.

Disk menus are animated and pretty basic but it all adds to the enigmatic element of Twin Peaks.

About Bob when I saw Fire Walk With Me at the cinema the woman behind me keep crying when even he was on screen.

 

[midlander]

So has the R2 got DTS or not? PoochJD says yes, kevb says no. I can't find a full review online and Rewind only compares the R1 with the German R2.

Cheers

Martyn

 

[kevb]

DTS is not on disk one thats for sure. IMO it's no big loss anyway as we have the full Pilot episode with a fairly good transfer included in the package.

 

[CarlB]

I also have not found DTS on R2 Twin Peaks. Dolby Surround for the pilot then 5.1 for all other episodes - no DTS.

 

[CWB]

PoochJD and kevB seem to be contradicting one another on the pilot episode issue.

Can somebody who has got a copy of the R2 AND who knows about the pilot versions please confirm whether or not this one has:

a ) got the tacked-on ending to make it into a stand-alone, fully resolved film, or

b) not got the extra bits, and is therefore not a complete film?

Many thanks.

 

[kevb]

It's got the original pilot episode that is not a stand alone film. i.e.

The pilot is the original european version which was never shown in the US which is good. They had the tacked on ending.

I saw the original series when it was first broadcast so I know what I'm talking about and I also have the R2 disk set.

 

[Squirrel God]

Kev & everyone else,

I think therein lies the confusion.

The version with the tacked-on ending is known as the "European version" because it was first released in Europe on VHS. It was then released in the US on video and laserdisc.

The original pilot was shown in the US and it was shown here, but the original pilot has never available to buy in the US or Europe because the rights to it are owned by a company in the Far East. This is why I had to buy the original pilot from www.dddhouse.com

Now it seems the rights have been secured for the R2 which Kev confirms contains the original broadcast pilot

Full details of the difference between the two versions of the pilot can be found here:

http://www.twinpeaks.org/faqeps.htm#e9

An excellent Twin Peaks resource is here (the main site for the previous link):

http://www.twinpeaks.org/

(Very useful in helping you understand every last detail of TP )

Hope that sorts it for everyone

 

[CWB]

Thanks KevB and SG,

Sorry to be a nuisance on this.

What confuses me is:

The pilot is the original European version which was never shown in the US which is good. They had the tacked on ending.

Who do you mean had the tacked-on ending? You seem to imply it was the Americans, but it wasn't. The tacked on ending is on the European version (the stand-alone film version). The original pilot EPISODE was shown in the US, but as SG says was never sold as a DVD because of rights issues.

What I want to get is a high quality pic and sound of the original US/UK series pilot. I understand that the far east version is of poor quality.

 

[jackjones]

The thing that is confusing me is that the R1 (which I found cheap in the US) has the Log Lady intros and commentaries on each episode by the director. The R2 box just says Pilot episode & commentaries. Some reviews say this is commentaries for each episode a la R1 and others say just the Pilot. Can someone who has watched the R2 box tell me what the commentaries actually are before I shell out again for the Pilot?

Thanks